This is the story of Eleanor Brogan who was born in April 2006. She was born missing 90% of her small bowel and 20% of her large bowel. This made her "Short Gut" or "short bowel", hence the name of the blog. Currently she is being treated by Children's Hospital Boston. She was the 23rd child to go on the new lipid for TPN, called Omegaven. Which has saved her liver, kept her off the transplant list and we believe saved her life.

Monday, April 17, 2006

An update from Dr. Superwoman

Abby mother and my parents came to NH today for a visit and to see Ellie in her new digs. My mother was reassured by seeing Ellie open her eyes and look around, something that apparently doesn't make it in the photos (damned red eye reducer scares her away I guess) but we see in the video clips that are on my laptop but for some reason can't get onto the blog. Trust me she looks around a lot and charms the nurses and doctors who come to visit her. They then tell her proud papa how cute she is and how great she is doing. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.

Then we met with the surgeon who told us how pleased she is with Ellie's progress, with the exception of the much anticipated BM. She told us all sorts of good stuff that made us feel better including that there is a possibility that Ellie's G-tube may not be there forever and that as far as she has read, Ellie's problem is likely not genetic.

Tomorrow or Wednesday she will take Ellie to the radiography department and use the high tech dyes and scans like those that her uncle John worked on at Generous Electric to follow her gut and see what the location of her troops is and why they haven't crossed the border.

Hopefully, if all goes well they may try to give her some of the endless store of breast milk that has been accumulating in the freezer by the end of week. Then we begin the long process of teaching her newly plumbed gut how to be a gut.

It was a positive update and we are still enamoured with Dr. Superwoman.